Bible Study

Isaiah 11:1-4

    [1] There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,

        and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit. 

    [2] And the Spirit of the LORD shall rest upon him,

        the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,

        the Spirit of counsel and might,

        the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD. 

    [3] And his delight shall be in the fear of the LORD.

    He shall not judge by what his eyes see,

        or decide disputes by what his ears hear, 

    [4] but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,

        and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;

    and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,

        and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.

Genesis 49:9-10

    [9] Judah is a lion’s cub;

        from the prey, my son, you have gone up.

    He stooped down; he crouched as a lion

        and as a lioness; who dares rouse him? 

    [10] The scepter shall not depart from Judah,

        nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet,

    until tribute comes to him;

        and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.

Hebrews 7:14-16

[14] For it is evident that our Lord was descended from Judah, and in connection with that tribe Moses said nothing about priests.

[15] This becomes even more evident when another priest arises in the likeness of Melchizedek, [16] who has become a priest, not on the basis of a legal requirement concerning bodily descent, but by the power of an indestructible life.

Revelation 22:16-17

[16] “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things for the churches. I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.”

[17] The Spirit and the Bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who desires take the water of life without price.

Human Wisdom is Not Enough

PRAY OVER THIS

“And my speech and my preaching were not with persuasive words of human wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power.” 1 Corinthians 2:4

 

PONDER THIS

Human wisdom is superficial. You could take a course in systematic theology and learn all of the facts about God. You could get out a notebook and write them all down. You could say God is omnipotent, God is omniscient, and many other facts that are true about God. Yet, you wouldn’t know God. The teacher could use all kinds of compelling speech and clever phraseology but that wouldn’t help you know God. In 1 Corinthians 2:4, the Apostle Paul said that when he came and preached, he didn’t come with human wisdom. The people at Corinth had been swept away by worldly philosophy. Now the Apostle Paul, if he had wanted to, could have taught with mighty intellect. He had a great amount of knowledge. But he was terrified at the thought that their faith should stand in human wisdom because it is so superficial. It is the supernatural wisdom of God that gives us true knowledge of Him. Nothing else will do.

What are some ways you might have tried to know God through human wisdom?

How would it look different to know Him through His wisdom?

PRACTICE THIS

Confess before God the ways you have sought to know Him through human wisdom and ask Him to give you supernatural knowledge of Him through His Word.

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

The Gift of Days

James 4:13-16

[13] Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”—[14] yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. [15] Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” [16] As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil.

Luke 12:19-23

[19] And I will say to my soul, “Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.”’ [20] But God said to him, ‘Fool! This night your soul is required of you, and the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ [21] So is the one who lays up treasure for himself and is not rich toward God.”

[22] And he said to his disciples, “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. [23] For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing.

Matthew 16:26

[26] For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?

Psalm 39:6-7

        [6]     Surely a man goes about as a shadow!

    Surely for nothing they are in turmoil;

        man heaps up wealth and does not know who will gather!

    [7] “And now, O Lord, for what do I wait?

        My hope is in you.

Things we take for granted during our short time on Earth.

Seconds into minutes.

Minutes into hours.

Hours into days.

Days into months.

Months into years.

Years into eternity.

Sunrise and Sunset.

The wind, the rain.

The rising and falling of ones chest signifying the breath of life.

The thumping of each beat of a heart given life by God alone.

Being able to step, placing a foot, one before the other ending in walking.

To talk, making a choice to be kind or hateful.

To hear words of encouragement or to hear speech that rips into someone leaving them a shattered soul.

Lord, teach us to pay attention to our days.

Psalm 90:9-12

    [9] For all our days pass away under your wrath;

        we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 

    [10] The years of our life are seventy,

        or even by reason of strength eighty;

    yet their span is but toil and trouble;

        they are soon gone, and we fly away. 

    [11] Who considers the power of your anger,

        and your wrath according to the fear of you?

    [12] So teach us to number our days

        that we may get a heart of wisdom.

Church Growth God’s Way

It is not the children of the flesh who are the children of God, but the children of the promise are counted as offspring. (Romans 9:8)

Picture the Old Testament Abraham as a pastor. The Lord says, “I will bless you and prosper your ministry.” But the church is barren and bears no children.

What does Abraham do? He begins to despair of supernatural intervention. He is getting old. His wife remains barren. So he decides to bring about God’s promised son without supernatural intervention. He has sex with Hagar his wife’s handmaid (Genesis 16:4). However, the result is not a “child of the promise,” but a “child of the flesh,” Ishmael.

God stuns Abraham by saying, “I will give you a son by her [your wife Sarah]” (Genesis 17:16). So Abraham cries out to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!” (Genesis 17:18). He wants the work of his own natural, human effort to be the fulfillment of God’s promise. But God says, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear you a son” (Genesis 17:19).

But Sarah is 90 years old. She has been barren all her life, and she has already passed through menopause (Genesis 18:11). Abraham is 100. The only hope for a child of promise is stunning, supernatural intervention.

That is what it means to be a “child of the promise” — to be born “not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:13). The only children that count for children of God in this world are supernaturally begotten children of promise. In Galatians 4:28 Paul says, “You [Christians], like Isaac, are children of promise.” You are “born according to the Spirit,” not according to the flesh (Galatians 4:29).

Think of Abraham as a pastor again. His church is not growing the way he believes God promised. He is weary of waiting for supernatural intervention. He turns to the “Hagar” of mere human devices, and decides he can “attract people” without the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit.

However, it will not be a church of Isaacs, but Ishmaelites — children of the flesh, not children of God. God save us from this kind of fatal success. By all means work. But always look to the Lord for the decisive, supernatural work. “The horse is made ready for the day of battle, but the victory belongs to the Lord” (Proverbs 21:31).

John Piper 

Bible Study

Romans 15:13

[13] May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.

1 Thessalonians 1:5

[5] because our gospel came to you not only in word, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction. You know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.

2 Peter 1:16

[16] For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.

1 Corinthians 4:20

[20] For the kingdom of God does not consist in talk but in power.

How Do You Know You’re Saved?

PRAY OVER THIS

“Now he who keeps His commandments abides in Him, and He in him. And by this we know that He abides in us, by the Spirit whom He has given us.” 1 John 3:24

 

PONDER THIS

Do you know the reason some Christians doubt their salvation? They don’t have the witness of the Spirit. How do you know you’re saved? Is it because a pastor or another person has told you that you’re saved? Or does God’s Spirit bear witness with your spirit that you’re a child of God? The ministry of the Holy Spirit is to give you joy, peace, understanding, wisdom, power, and grace to make Jesus Christ real to you. This goes beyond what we hear about God from others. This is God in your heart, bringing you into communion with Himself. This communion in the Greek is koinonia, which is used throughout 1 John.

Have you experienced the assurance of your salvation through the Holy Spirit? If you haven’t, how is God calling you to respond to Him today?

How does the Bible help us know what it looks like for the Holy Spirit to give us assurance of our salvation?

PRACTICE THIS

Read John 3:36; 5:24; and Romans 8:16-17 about assurance of belonging to God. Ask God to make it clear to you whether you belong to Him or not and to help you respond accordingly. 

LWF Dr. Adrian Rogers 

Six Things It Means to Be in Christ Jesus

[God] saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works but because of his own purpose and grace, which he gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began. (2 Timothy 1:9)

Being “in Christ Jesus” is a stupendous reality. It is breathtaking to be united to Christ. Bound to Christ.

If you are “in Christ” listen to what it means for you:

In Christ Jesus you were given grace before the world was created. Second Timothy 1:9, “He gave us grace in Christ Jesus before the ages began.”

In Christ Jesus you were chosen by God before creation. Ephesians 1:4, “[God] chose us in [Christ] before the foundation of the world.”

In Christ Jesus you are loved by God with an inseparable love. Romans 8:38–39, “I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

In Christ Jesus you were redeemed and forgiven for all your sins. Ephesians 1:7, “In [Christ] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses.”

In Christ Jesus you are justified before God and the righteousness of God in Christ is imputed to you. Second Corinthians 5:21, “For our sake [God] made [Christ] to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

In Christ Jesus you have become a new creation and a son of God. Second Corinthians 5:17, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.” Galatians 3:26, “In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith.”

I pray that you will never grow weary of exploring and exulting in the inexhaustible privilege of being “in Christ Jesus.”

John Piper